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The name for a species of plant or animal that is used around the world. The naming system, developed in the mid‐1700s by Linnaeus, uses Latin and has two parts; the first part, which is capitalized, is the genus or family name, and the second part is the name of the species or variety. Both parts are always written in italics. For example, the beech tree is the Fagus sylvatica. Also known as scientific name, species name. Compare common name.